Stellaris Mods: Pre-Patch Panic! + Progress (Patreon)

So this month's progress report ended up being a bit rushed as I wrote it while fighting off zombie infection. But I'm recovered now! So to make up for the shamefur dispray from two weeks ago, today we'll talk about ALL the things!

Mass Effect Civilisations - Omega

First of all, I'd like to profusely apologise for promising to declassify the Project Chocolate Toffee (aka Omega) posts as soon as it was announced and... not actually having done that ._.

You probably know by now that I suffer from an acute case of scatterbrain but this was inexcusable negligence! I'm so sorry that it took me this long to notice!

Originally, I intended to declassify them gradually, giving access first to all Patrons and later opening them up to the public. But as a token of apology for the delay, I've decided to skip straight to the public phase.

• Chocolate Toffee - #1 
• Chocolate Toffee - #2 

Everyone should be able to read those posts now so if you're interested in the origins of the Omega project and how it's evolved since the idea was born in our ever-distracted minds, be sure to have a looksie! n_n

And you can also expect more up-to-date news on Omega to start pouring in soon! In fact, if you've read the Cherryh patch notes released earlier today, you may already suspect what we're planning to do with all the new tools and resources Stellaris 2.0 will make available to modders!

Hint: it has something to do with the upcoming wormhole/gateway functionality n_~

Mass Effect Civilisations - Asari 

In the last progress report I mentioned that we were working on a new and improved Destiny Ascension which is going to serve as the Asari Titan in Apocalypse.

Please give all your hugs and thank yous to Nessa because while I was wrapped up in blankets dying of the Javorian Pox, she was hard at work actually being productive! n_n

What you see here is an early look at the new DA model, which will feature the highest polycount to date! Normally we use texture magic to create an illusion of depth and complexity so that our users' GPUs don't spontaneously combust from rendering every nook, cranny and wrinkle on hundreds of little ships.

But thanks to Paradox introducing build limits on Titans as well as capping out maximum fleet sizes, the end result will hopefully mean fewer ships to render, better performance in the late game... and, for us, a much bigger resource budget to work with!

As the flagship of the fleet, the Destiny Ascension will be the biggest ship around and we want to it to look and feel like the pinnacle of ship engineering clad in individually rendered massive armour plates and, of course, lots of shiny shiny shine! (=^▽^=)

The shape is still somewhat raw (as you can see, the armour plates aren't attached yet and the pylons still need to be capped off) but this side by side comparison should at least give you an idea of how dramatic the quality gap is going to be!

In fact, the new DA outclasses the original version so much that the old one will be downgraded to battleship (or dreadnought, however you like to call it) and the entire shipset is undergoing a thorough reorganisation as the result. The new Destiny Ascension, even in its unfinished state, has set the bar very high for our present future supercapitals!

Elves of Stelalris 

But Titans aren't the only new things Apocalypse is introducing. Starbases, Colossi and Ion Cannons are also coming to all our shipsets. In fact, Elves already have the latter ready to go, awaiting only entity setup and in-game testing once the Cherryh patch is available. And it's preeeettyyyyy! <3

Because if you're going to be surrounded by filthy primitives bumbling their way into your cosmic garden, what better to way to get them off your lawn than employing giant death flowers of shiny death? <3

Shiiiii-nyyyyyy!（≧∇≦）

And on that note, this is all for today! But there's actually one more thing I want to talk about - the long-promised improvements to Patreon organisation and interaction and the future of Unannounced Projects. Both of which we'll finally get to tomorrow! <3

Until then, here's a little bonus for you! Nessa made sure I could never unsee it so now I'm passing these mental pictures on to you too!

Say hi to the happy cyclops Cheshire cat!

And to the very surprised E.T.+WALL-E hybrid!

Enjooooy! (✿◠‿◠)◜✧˖°